The Best Videojournalism Stories of 2009 ... Celebrating excellence in video, journalism and storytelling. View

Surrogate births are a godsend to some couples, but when more than two people create a baby, legal ambiguities increase the potential for custody disputes. (NYT) View

Heartwrenching stories of Appalachian women who are struggling to escape from tragic lives of poverty, domestic violence and substance abuse. (Soulalpha.com) View

What can be done to curb the growth of Native American youth violence on the Oglala Sioux Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota? (NYT) View

An increasing number of runaway teens are using a variety of legal and illegal strategies to survive on the streets, while being targeted by pimps and drug dealers. (NYT) View

Inside look at California's dangerously cramped correctional facilities, forcing judges to set inmates free. (San Jose Mercury News) View

Bureaucratic red tape prevents the airlift of critically injured earthquake victims to the U.S., where lifesaving medical care awaits them. (NYT) View

Virtually no laws mandate safety standards in U.S. highway work. Motorists and construction workers are dying as a result. (NYT) View

Five-part multimedia series investigates the exploitation of U.S. immigrants, legal and illegal, from Tijuana, Guatemala and beyond. (Kansas City Star) View

Tensions among gangs and with Los Angeles police create a domestic battlefield in Watts, where they all agree on one thing: It's war. (VII) View

Role-playing psychotherapist Barry Spodak creates mentally unbalanced characters to train law enforcement agents who protect politicians and VIPs. (WP) View

A shocking 1977 case of spousal abuse, and Farrah Fawcett's subsequent TV movie dramatization, altered laws and attitudes. (Lansing State Journal) View